Two days in paradise

Philippines is undoubtedly a tourist destination. With its lovely beaches, islands, and mountains, it is easy to be attracted to its charm and desire to visit some of the country's beautiful sites.

Traveling to the Philippines' amazing places can be really expensive to most ordinary wage earners, that's why traveling as a hobby doesn't seem to be for everyone. For example, if you dream to go to the northernmost province of the country, Batanes, you have to save enough money for the airfare, accommodations, and food allowance because they cost a lot. It may take time given an individual's priorities and responsibilities, but it is doable. While there are really expensive tourist destinations, there are others that were stereotyped to be only for the well-off, like El Nido, Palawan. But sometimes, it only takes some skills and planning to afford the costs of traveling.

I am not one of those who makes a list of must-see places, but when I saw the beauty of El Nido, Palawan in photos, I knew I wanted to see it someday. Checking out airfares, tours, and accommodations online gave me an impression that El Nido is really quite expensive. Through Cebu Pacific's seat sale, we were able to book cheaper tickets for the family a few months before the trip. My husband and I couldn't decide at first if we were going to stay in El Nido or Puerto Princesa, but after some thinking and calculations on expenses, we chose El Nido and we're glad we did.

Waiting for boarding

My two other siblings didn't join our trip: my sister was in UAE and the eldest brother didn't want to come. Nevertheless, we were really excited since it would be our first time in Palawan. While on flight, one of the flight attendants announced about available shuttle vans from Puerto Princesa Airport to El Nido. We inquired about the tickets and purchased afterwards. It cost Php 600 per person. The van was spacious and the roads to El Nido were long and winding. It felt like the driver was really in a hurry, I didn't sleep during the travel because I was kind of worried that I'd break my neck. It was that fast!

Welcome to Puerto Princesa!

After roughly five hours, we reached El Nido safely and took a tricycle to Joyful Guesthouse. It was our home for two days and we paid Php 2 200 per night. All the seven of us stayed in one family room. Since it was dark when we arrived, the inviting clear blue sea welcomed us in the morning.

Our view from our accommodation

We woke up early the next day to arrange a tour. We asked about a private boat but the owner of the inn (who became our tour coordinator) told us that the private boats were all taken and reserved a day before. So we had no choice but to pay for the Tour A per person, which was Php 1 200.

Hello, El Nido!

We joined a bunch of foreigners who were strangers to each other for our first tour. We were the only Filipinos in the group besides the tour guides. There were many foreign tourists in El Nido since that place is really famous.

First tour - beaches and lagoons!

The sailing to the destinations was calm and we got to enjoy the beauty of nature - the rock formation, clear waters, and greeneries. If I were asked to paint a picture of paradise, this would be it. I am thankful to have traveled that far and seen those creations.

On the way to the lagoons

The tour packages in El Nido are all fixed and grouped accordingly. Specifically, Tour A will take you to lagoons and beaches. We went to big lagoon, small lagoon, hidden lagoon, Shimizu island, and lastly, Seven Commandos beach.

Secret lagoon's not a secret after all.

The tour guides prepared the lunch in Shimizu island. We had enough food for everybody, and we had fruits for desserts. We took some rest and dip after lunch and then we headed to the other parts of the tour.

After lunch dip in Shimizu Island

This must be paradise!

Big smiles in big lagoon!

7 Commandos beach

We spent an hour or so in Seven Commandos beach. There were a plenty of palm trees and the wind was lulling me to sleep. There were also stalls where you can buy coconut juice and halo-halo. Sadly, we did not bring any money during the tour because we thought we didn't need it.

Snorkeling and swimming

My mom was looking for shellfish and found some

Our first tour turned out great! We arranged another tour for next day and this time, we rented a private boat for Php 5 000. Snorkeling gears and lunch were not included. We paid separately for snorkeling gears and decided that we'd cook our food for lunch.

We hit the bed after taking our dinner and some walk in the town.

My mom, Michael and I went to the public market early morning to buy some food for lunch. It was a few a minutes away from our accommodation. Once we were settled with our things, the tour guides called us to hop on the boat. We had this big boat all to ourselves!

 Second tour - caves and beaches!

Tour B includes caves and beaches. We went to Entalula beach, Snake island, Cudugnon Cave, Cathedral cave, and Pinagbuyutan island.

 Entalula Island

We took our lunch in Snake island and strolled across the sand bar. There was a small hill that was easy to climb. We spent an hour or so in the island and proceeded with the tour.

 Snake island

 Getting toasted in the sun

Splish, splash!

Mom and dad strolled across the sand bar

 Cudugnon Cave

 Cathedral Cave

Behind us is the Cathedral Cave

Janus in a hurry for the next island

My brother and his girlfriend in Pinagbuyutan island

Just happy!

The tours that we had for two days were quite tiring, but were worth it after discovering the sceneries, the aquatic life through snorkeling, and the mere experience of feeling the fine white sands between our toes and the small waves rinsing them off. We wished we could stay longer but our flight back to Manila was scheduled the next day. I remember feeling like floating in the sea for a night or two when lying in bed after the trip. We missed the boat tours.

Looking at the photos of our trip felt dreamy and I could quite recall the feeling of awe seeing El Nido's beauty for the first time. And for that, I feel overwhelmed with joy and gratitude to the lord. Oh, grateful. :)